As I turned from the temple, the weight of the severed bond heavy yet liberating, I felt the cold air hit my skin—a stark reminder that my clothes had been torn to shreds in the chaos of my shift. Barefoot and vulnerable, I broke into a run, my breaths coming in quick gasps as I fled from the echoes of what I’d left behind.
The forest loomed around me, shadows stretching across the path as I darted through the trees. The chill bit into my skin, but I barely noticed, my mind numb, my heart pounding with a mixture of defiance and sorrow. Each step took me further from the temple, from Leo, from the twisted remnants of what once might have been.
The ground beneath me shifted from soft forest floor to the uneven banks of a river, the water glinting faintly in the moonlight. I stumbled, my le
